It’s been a big last few weeks for the Chicago Transit Authority. The CTA revealed final plans for the new 95th Street terminus of the Red Line. What had once been a dreary and gray structure is being replaced by a bright red and quite bold building on both the north and south sides of 95th Street above the Dan Ryan Expressway. This project, the final element of the reconstruction of the south side of the Red Line, will improve passenger amenities by making transit more accommodating and friendly.

One can only hope the project will spur more transit use. Even as ridership on the CTA ‘L’ system has increased dramatically, use of the 95th Street station has declined. Average weekday entries at the stop have declined from an average of 14,894 in 1999 to 11,632 in 2015—a 22 percent decline. What was once the busiest ‘L’ station outside downtown is now outpaced by Belmont and Fullerton on the Brown, Purple and Red lines, and Chicago on the Red Line. Of course, much of this trend has little to do with the CTA at all and much more to do with the fact that large sections of the South Side of the city have lost large numbers of people over the past few decades.

CTA has also been investing millions of dollars in the reconstruction and expansion of the Wilson Station on the Red—and soon Purple—Line, in the Uptown neighborhood. A neighborhood group, spurred on by work MPC conducted in the area in 2014, is developing ideas to rethink the area under the station. CTA’s current plans will simply put surface parking in the void, but the Wilson Underline coalition is proposing public space with benches and landscaping instead. It could be a wonderful addition to the community.

These two stops aren’t the only ones being redeveloped by the municipal transit system. The Quincy station downtown, which serves the Brown, Orange, Pink and Purple lines, will be renovated as part of an $18.2 million program that will integrate elevators for the first time. Quincy is the oldest and best-preserved station in the CTA system.

Finally, CTA made news by recognizing that its history is not just being preserved in the form of historic stations. Indeed, the agency announced the creation of a “heritage fleet” made up of older models of CTA vehicles designed to keep the public aware of the agency’s past.

elsewhere

The Minnesota Twin Cities have been investing dramatically in new transit projects over the past few years thanks to a regional consensus about the importance of investing in public transportation. That consensus, though, is looking shaky. Dakota County, in the southern part of the region, recently announced that it would be leaving the Counties Transit Improvement Board, the funding agency for transit improvements. This move could threaten the region’s future investments as it reduces the tax revenue available.

In Los Angeles, a similar plan will also be up for a vote, but some are asking whether the proposal is the right one for that city’s future. We’ll see in November what the voters think.

On the east coast, investing around transit has become the norm, and in Philadelphia, a developer and Drexel University have announced a $4.5 billion plan to radically alter the neighborhood around 30th Street Station, near the center of the city. 30th Street is Philadelphia’s primary intercity rail station. The plan will include the reconstruction of 100 acres over 35 years and eventually provide the space for up to 10,000 new residents and 40,000 jobs—plus enhancements to the station to expand its capacity.

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